Telegram-herald., 1887-10-24
"HOW IS THE OLD JADE
IS sra NEVER GOING TO Ois~
fhs Ls.sssxs Iced by nrs- Merritt @hsa
11qutFisg abost Her Assg Peggy
-xhs k3ets ls tbs Case stated ~
ths FTfAeip.i - tss 4. B. A
Hospital.

To tas Editor Of tas fzLEsEAx HERALD.
Having read = letter IN the sunday morn
ing Deo0rax from the pen OF Ars- ). n.
Merritt casting reflections on the manage
ment Of the c. B. A. Home for alleged III
treatment Of her aunt, Mrs. Margaret Nav
ris. an inmate Of the institution, beg the
privilege Of stating through the columns of
your valuable paper the facts as they really
existed. So many garbled reports having
been given the public. think silence on
my part, siks "f0fbsarznce," Ceases 10 be a
virtue. Now as TO the real facts Ia the
case:
First, as 10 the treatment given Aunt
Peggy" while an inmate Of the Home.
/ would siTsply state that she
received all the care aud al
tenton Necessary tOr one OF her
advanced age and feebleness- Very few
people and those only who have had ex-
perienee IN such cases. understand the ma
ture OF the care which We were called upon
10 give. Having no control OF herself in
any way, Il became the not very pleasant
duty OF tha nurse 10 render service al which
= scavenger would revolt.
The neighbors within two or three squares
will all testify 10 the annoyance caused
them Oy the screams of our neglected." pa
tient, s2id screams losing nothing in vol
ume whether she were provided with COM
pany or not, which fact Mrs. Merritt will
not deny. Prior to my coming to the
Home various remedies had been tried
10 quiet her. among which was NOR
phine, used hypodermically. but after the
first trial IL was abandoned as not being safe
in her enfesbled condition. We then tried
other medicines, but always with the pre-
vi0us consent of Mrs. Merritt but found
nothing which would in any way answer
our purpose excepting paregorlc, the other
drugs proving too strong. Mrs. Merritt at
one time administered laudanum as i re-
fused 10 assume the responsibility. Now
comes the heinous crime. of which. il is
claimed. We are guilty-the removal of
Aunt Peggy" to the upper door and the
many indignities to which she was after
wards subjected. The removal was effected
after many consultations between Mrs.
Merritt, Mrs. Withey and others. The inn
mediate cause of such action was that as a
disturbing element, she was injurious TO
the other patients on the door, but the re
was a full understanding that if any dissat-
isiaction should arise she wa . be returned
To the second floor. The room 10 which she
was removed was furnished throughout
with regard TO her especial comfort; new
carpet was bought aud other expenses in
CURED To effect the same. No dissatisfao-
tien being expressed for some time, another
patient was pat in the Benjamin room" !"
but other rooms equally pleasant were va
cant. which Mrs. Merit. could have had
had she so decided.
The next count is the "inhuman
treatment by the nurses. which
statement / pronounce unqualified
ly false in every particular. 1t became
the duty of the nurse in attendance to
thoroughly bathe and rub with vaseline the
patient before being retired for the night,
at which task the services of two or more
were required, as the old lady was very
belligerent and possessed of great strength
for one of her age, but notwithstanding
nurse. have borne marks of the old lady g
nails and teeth for days, and the vile lam
guage that issued from her lips is not often
heard outside Billingsgate. Can any in
telligent person think for moment bed
sores, TO any great extent. could follow
the treatment We gave her. / freely
admit there were two sores of
that kind, but not larger than
the bali of mans thumb, but when we
consider the condition of the woman, the
lack of vitality and constant pressure upon
the parts. this fact alone should be con-
elusive evidence that she received the best
of care,
recall but one instance when Aunt
Peggy" was laid upon the floor. Having
befouled herself 10 such an extent that il
became necessary to resort to extreme
measures Is q desperate disease requires a
desperate remedy, it would have shown
lack of judgment on the part Of the nurse
to place her IN her soiled condition on a
clean bed. If the statements OF Aunt
Peggy" as 70 her treatment are to be taken
as evidence, Mrs. Aerritt's record will
be no fsirer than the one she is
90 ready to give the Home and bad she
been as teader of her aunt before death as
she has appeared to be since things would
probably have terminated differently. Her
common salutation for weeks before the
old isdy's demise was, well. how is the
old jade this morning" and rs she never
going TO die?" they were also undecided
Whist they should do st the funeral, dance
jig or cry, and the only 'slspping" the
old lady received to any knowledge was
from Mrs. Merritt's daughter, when her
aunt applied TO her some of the vile epi-
thets to which the nurses were obliged to lis
ten daily. Mrs. Merritt's orders to us were
very explicit a. to what should be
done in case the old lady died dur
circumstances TO call her before morning,
~ her daughter was somewhat nervous -
The absence Of the wash-bovl and pitcher
would, in my estimation, have been too
trivial for mention had not 80 much stress
been put upon IL by the com plsinant The
pitcher had bad no rster in it during her
occupancy of tie room, IL not being neces-
sary as the nurses always carried warm
water for the old lady's bath. To the accu-
sstion that We did not feed the Old lady
properly viz simply reply IL is an unmii-
ixstef fslsshood There were times when
she refused 10 be fed By the nurses, splitting
The food in their faces. as sire also did
Der medicine when she did nos wish
to take it sdnit Ms. Merriti
did have some 81 the inmates 70 wait upon
"Aaut Peggy asking beforehand II I had
any objections. I told ser no" The
only harsh trentnaent she ever received a;
our hands vas that We sometimes closed
her door 20 prevent her scresms penstTa-
tinx - the other parts Of the house. The
dsrrhoes. from which Il il slsimed she
suTered, was nothing more than she action
o. the oowels coR.mcn 20 perzons OF al.
vsnced years. The deiicsciss furnished By
krs. Merritt we're no more than other
patients or inmates receive from friends
The Home ofkcisis do not solicit nsither
ID they render homs~e tor such fsvors
There : slight discrepancy between Mrs
Ms statement ss 70 t1s time scent At ths
Hcnae and fhs rssi facts Of the cass. b1i
rsHsfs1~t>
Frequent mention hss been usssa Of re
enormous sun q three hundred dollars
hsvinx been pad The Home, nv iudx-
meat she has rscsivsd oo8ole that snao8n.
Of csr.
The sut1nsv thst VS. bed On tie re-
nnsiss car IN 10 wiss reject es ths Home